December 13, 2022 • 20 mins
Terry Porter takes us inside his early days growing up in Milwaukee, to his collegiate days playing for an NAIA school, and then to the NBA. Terry shares when he was introduced to the game of basketball, and then he explains how he landed at an NAIA school. Terry shares what it was like to be the first ever NAIA player to compete in the 1984 Olympic Trials and then he talks about his journey in Portland and San Antonio. Terry provides detail into what it was like to play for the Spurs organization, he shares what his fondest memories of the Spurs are and then he dives into the legacy of Spurs basketball.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gay check for a three years. Porter, Erry Porter three
second time the Clark Porter Time. Welcome to Soundlespurs podcast
presented by HIV. This is episode number seven and we're
(00:22):
very pleased to be joined by Terry Porter. Seventeen years
in the NBA. Two time All Star, had some great
years with Portland Trailblazers. Is number thirty's retired by the
Portland Trailblazers. Has been his last three years as a
player with the San Antonio Spurs and a lot of
stuff since then. So we'll get to that. But uh, Terry,
very good to see you. A proud son of the
city of Milwaukee. Was kinsin. I'd feel great to be
(00:43):
with you and uh yeah, yeah, proud to say that
Milwaukee's uh where I m started my basketball career and
played the little little Drip Boos and it's all started there.
Now we hear about these legendary playgrounds in Chicago and
Philly and New York. Uh, Milwaukee's not too far from
ago and some good players have come out of Milwaukee. Yeah,
we've been We've been blessed to have some great players
(01:04):
over the years come from Milwaukee. Fred Brown, um, you
know downtown Freddy Brown when you go old school and
the trails pretty well. Myself and Golden State Warriors have
two guys. Pool and Moody are two guys from Milwaukee
as well, so we we sprinkle a little bit some
guys in there. But no, it's been it's been a
pretty good basketball spot. And of course Marquette University has
(01:25):
had a great basketball tradition right there in Milwaukee. Yes,
the University of Marquette has some obviously great coaches, but
great players who have gone on and wore the Marquette
uniform and gone on to play in the NBA. Morris Lucas,
I mean, I think Doc, Doc Rivers and so uh
you know Jones. So there's been some great, uh great
programs in Wisconsin, and Marquette is obviously been one of
(01:46):
the better universities. I go back to those jerseys one
on the outside, you know, Jerome Whitehead. I think those
were some classic jerseys those the early days, and they
really start, I guess, be the first university kind of
you know, spread out a little bit, went out of
their way to kind of get more fancy and not
the traditional just tuck him in and and um, I
(02:07):
think it was something that the fans really enjoyed. And
when you were a kid, the Milwaukee Bucks came of
age Lou all Sender later known as Kareem ubdul Jabbar,
the Big Old, Oscar Robertson. I'm trying to remember some
of the guys on that team, but uh, those guys
were really really good ball club. Well, yeah, those are
my early days, and my brother and my dad introduced
me to the professional basketball and got in a chance,
(02:27):
like you said, to see the Big Old and Bob
Dandred's and some of those guys. Obviously, uh, Kareema du
Luel center back then. So you know, those are the
early days of the NBA when it was just kind
of starting to find this way. So when did you
find your basketball routes? When did you say, hey, I
want to really make this my passion. Well, I think
as a kid, I grew up playing basketball. I grew
(02:47):
up playing a lot of sports. Um, you know, as
a kid, you grew up up we play our big
sports in our neighborhood was football doing the winner, you know,
in basketball in the summer, and and then obviously played
a little baseball in the summer as well. But um,
earestly we had started getting really sad. I guess high
school years and then college years and when I started
playing and practicing a lot more and really just trying
to you know, first from the high school years, trying
(03:09):
to get a scholarship and trying to get an opportunity
to play at the college level. And then from college,
I had a you know, went to a small school
in the high school Steavens Point, which is about two
hours north of Milwaukee, and I didn't know about my
potential in NBA until later in ninour but um, yeah,
it's been it's been a great journey and very surprising
(03:29):
journey along the way. It's a small school but very
well known for their basketball tradition. And of course Dick Bennett,
a legendary coach, was your college coach. What was that recruitment? Like, well,
it was it was interesting, So you know, Dick Bennett
was that um what you would call We were at
a state. Um, we're trying to get the state and
so we were in the regional bracket and Dick Bennett
(03:50):
actually was there to see another kid on the other team.
And so funny story his his wife is the one
who identified me as game a little elbow. I learned
letterly he gave. She gave him a little elbow and said,
you need to start looking at that number thirty and
start paying attention to the other number thirty. And I
was the other number thirty. So we joke a lot
when we get together, his wife and I about she
(04:12):
giving him the best two players he ever had. And
that's his son Tony Bennett, who's now coaching at the
University of Virginia. He coached him at the years at
Green Bay and then obviously myself. So we always say
she's got the eye for town and in the family.
It was good for you to kind of latch onto
that Bennett family at that point because obviously I was
still very early and he went on too great things
as well. So, um, you have a great career at
(04:33):
Wisconsin Stevens Point. You get to the n ai finals, right,
and must have been a heartbreaking loss. What do you
remember about that game Fort Hayes State Beach in the finals, right? Yeah,
I mean, obviously you you the losses stick with you
longer than the winds do. And UH for us UH
to represent our confidence and represent our state and make
it to the national championship, it was unbelievable experience. And
(04:56):
like you said at this point, that we lost and
it was a very competitive game for the state was
a local university right there in the Kansas City and
we um just didn't make the plays at the end
of the game. But no, it was very competitive and uh,
one of my better stretches of playing amateur basketball. There
must have been a few scouts there are watching you
(05:17):
play because you were the only n ai player to
be invited to the Olympic Trials with all these big
time Division one guys. Did that give you a boost
a confidence to that point, like, hey, I can play
with these big school guys. That gave me a huge
boots and it kind of gave me my first kind
of um, I guess indication that I may have an
opportunity to get played in the NBA. Back then, again,
(05:39):
the Educator your viewers back then they had about nine
they had nine rounds and it does have two now.
So I knew I was gonna get drafted. And so
funny story about the Olympic trial so four it was
going to be in l A. Bobby Knight was the
coach you had. You had mentioned earlier that I was
the first n ai player ever at that time invited
(06:00):
to Olympic trials. There's the head of any island national
level is the gentleman who called the selected committee every
day and tried to say, look, it's time for you
guys to really have an opportunity to invite at least
one NI player. And Um. I was blessed that I
was the one guy that he identified and I was
able to go to Olympic trials UM with ninety other
(06:20):
collegiate players at the time, and I made the first cut,
made the second cut, and then I got the chicken pox,
believe it or not, cut the chicken pox, and had
to go back to Steven's point. And everybody had their
opinion with Bobby Knight. They're either hot or coal on
Bobby Knight. But the way he handled my situation was
um something I always have much respect for him. He
told me, how you deserve it right to try to
(06:42):
compete for the position and represent your USA and Olympic trials.
I went back UM after a week of recovering from
the chicken pox, and I got cut Um. And your
audience may remember two other names that I got cut
with shared the bandwidth one by the name of John Stockton,
other names by Charles Barkley. Three of us wrote a
(07:02):
ban together to the airport under with the last cut
before they made the Olympic trial, and of course just
before the NBA allowed players or the Olympics allowed NBA players.
So it was truly a kind of an all star
college team. Yeah, it was a legitimate collegiate team and
legitimate talent um from the college level. You didn't have
any pros. You can't even have any pros that played
(07:23):
overseas and came back. Um, so it was I think
it was the second to last time, like you said before,
because I think the Dream Team was nineties. So yeah,
it was second to last time before they started allowing
professional basketball players to compete. It's not about your highlight reel.
(07:44):
It's about reaching new heights each and every day. It's
not about if you's sit in the nosebleeds of courtside.
It's about showing up, Hey, good game. It's not about wins.
It's about winning over others by eating them right. It's
about more than money. Frost the official bank of the
(08:05):
San Antonio Spurs. This is Sounded Spurs Podcast. So we
want to get to your time with the Spurs. But
we can't skip your time in Portland. You get drafted,
uh in the first round by the Trailblazers to go
to a whole new place, whole different world for you,
I'm sure, Yet immediately you've become a Trailblazer. Well yeah,
(08:29):
well I was blessed to, you know, get drafted by
the Portland Trailblazers scouting team. Stu Wimmen and Bucky Buckwalter
and the rest of their staff recognized me and all
those amateur competitive events that the NBA goes scouts and
prepare for the draft, and so I got drafted there
head Darnielle Valentine as a veteran there who really helped
me talk to me a lot about being a pro
(08:51):
um Stevie Coulter who another veteran who really talked me
and schooled me a lot about what it was like
to be in the league. And then I was fortunate
and blessed to have some great coaches. I had Jack
Ramsey is my first coach, taught me a lot about
again how to eat as a professional, how to take
care of my body. And then Rick Adaman, who was unbelievable,
Mike Schuler who was a great coach, and so just
(09:13):
fortunate and very blessed to have a lot of great coaches.
P JR. Collissimo was one of my coaches there in
my stint, and uh, you learn Italian food from That's right,
Italian food and not of cuss, you know. But no,
it was it was a great experience and we were
able to h have some great teams and make some
great runs to like you mentioned, two NBA finals and
(09:35):
came up a little shortened nose. But no, it was
unbelievable experience for me those those first two years and
to really be able to play at such a high level.
When people look back at your time in San Antonio
because you came to the Spurs late in your career.
You were thirty six thirty seven years old at the time. Uh,
and you ended up being the point guard. I guess
between Avery Johnson and Tony Parker during that three year
(09:55):
step Well Tony, yeah, I think Avery, and then it
was me, and then Tony was actually here when I
was here, So Tony was got nineteen, I was thirty
six days, So it's TP me and then t P Junior.
So Tony was considered junior, and uh, I just knew
he was gonna be good. Obviously, his speed was the
first thing that you noticed right away when he got
(10:15):
on the basketball court, his ability to go to one
end of the four to the other end, and really
Um had a great passion um for the game. And
obviously his dad, who learned a lot from who played
over in Spain, Um obviously taught him a lot about
the American game and how to compete. Well, you know,
it's interesting because when he first came, uh, you know,
he's a slight little kid, and he looked like a kid.
He didn't had that baby face and everything, but as
(10:38):
you know, he got that toughness and I think, you know,
Pop obviously was tough on him at first, you know,
trying to groom him to be a good NBA player.
But we saw Tony kind of grew up right in
front of us that first year. No question, I think
Pop realized his potential. And Pop was really hard on
point guards. I think anybody who played that position for
coach Um is always something that he demands a lot
of knowledge and and some spunk and some ability to compete.
(11:01):
And Tony had all those skills. You could tell that
early on. I've seen enough of his back and he
went running past me in practice to know that he
was gonna be good. But now I just love the
way he competed and the way he always talked to
me about just the league, my years in the league,
my years in the playoffs, my years and making it
to the finals, what that was like. And he just always, um,
(11:22):
you know, wanted to know more and more about the
position and about the league. And of course you got
to share the court with two other Hall of famers, uh,
Tim Duncan and David David Robinson. Just a few moments
to talk about those guys and your first impressions of them.
Of course you went against them for years as an opponent,
and now your teammates all of a sudden with them. Well,
I mean obviously started with David David. We had some
(11:42):
we battled. We battled in the Western Conference finals when
Larry Brown was the head coach and Pop was assistant coach.
And uh, those Spurs, earlier Spurs teams that had um
they had what Shaun Ellio was on that team as
a starter, and they had Terry Cummins and they had
you know, obviously David and so it was a very
competitive head to head. But what I loved about David
(12:04):
was his ability just to impact the game in so
many ways. I mean, his his speed. You didn't see
that in a big guy. His he was just as
fast as as a guard. And his ability to blocks
out and run the floor and figure out how to
score or something that you just didn't see in a
seven footer back then. He was way ahead of his time. YEA.
And of course the big fundamental Tim Duncan, who probably
(12:26):
would have been Terry I think maybe the number one
pick had he come out after his junior year, and
he decides to come out after his senior year, of
course he's number one pick. Spurs got a nice little
bounce there, right that that was a pretty fortunate bounce
for the Spurs. And they'll tell you right up front,
you know, I was pretty fortunate to be able to
pair Duncan and Robinson together. But Tim seemed like he
was very mature when he got to the league. I
(12:47):
think that's one of the things you noticed right away
when timmy first got in um, you know, he was
very calm, very professional about how he went about his craft,
how he went about preparing every day and practice and
how he worked on his body that needed work and
so and he just got better and better. And you
know anybody who's at that level who's that great. He
always had it in a drive. He Timmy, I would say,
(13:09):
more inniver he did. He wasn't one that he have
all this motion layout in his sleeve, but he had
a fire in his belly that was just as as
strong as anybody else. And he wanted to win. He
loved to compete. My first year with the Spurs, I
was just trying to take it all in. And you
guys such a good um you know, spirit about you.
And one of the guys who was always kind of
involved in the hijinks was Malik Rose. How do you
(13:29):
like having Malik as a teammate? Bleek was great. I
mean he's very emotional, yelling, screaming. You know, as older
guys are more veteran guys, you know, we kind of quiet,
but we need those young guys energy and and and spark.
And you know he would be running around all the time,
patting guys on the back and uh, you know, telling
him pick it up and know it's just a great
amount of energy you needed and practice it more in
(13:51):
the games and on the bench. When you look back
at your three years as a Spur as a player,
what are your fattest memories? Well, just having a chance
to compete. Um, I think the players themselves the whole.
I mean, I think the people will realize the Spurs
with the golden standard back then. I mean their culture,
the way Pop invited guys, in the way he really
(14:12):
embraced guys, the way this community embraced people who put
on the silver and black and those other things that
take along with me obviously the players, Avery Johnson, who
are a very good friend of ours, dear friend of
our family. Um, you know, all the many guys, Steve Kerr,
Danny Ferry, I mean, David five Oh, and like you said,
Mr Fundamental. So those relationships when you get onto a
(14:34):
battle and you're able to compete at such a high level,
those relationships are substantial and long lasting. It's the fiftieth
anniversary of the franchise and if you can take yourself
out of that equation for the three years you played,
when you look at what the Spurs legacy is uh
in fifty years in this league, and of course the
time spent in the a B A because the first
years of this franchise they were in the old A
(14:55):
B A, which is fun and unique. What would you
say the legacy of the Spurs has well champions. I
mean I think, um, you know, even for the earlier days,
they had unbelievable players. Think about the Iceman and A
B A days and more. You think about guys who
were just um game changed, are Guilmore artist Gilmore? I mean,
so you go from A B A days to obviously
(15:16):
the into the merge into the NBA and the standard
they set um and the ability to really become um
a golden standard. A lot of teams tried to copycatch
as the copycat league, as you know, a lot of
trying to complicate their culture and just how Pop and
Peter Holt really allowed to mend the team and and
(15:37):
bringing the type of players that fit this community and
fit that organization. And you certainly were one that fit
right in you. You're certainly a big part of the
community when you were here. You went into coaching after
your playing career. Your last three years as a player
was with the Spurs. Uh And I know you've got
a degree in communications from Wisconsin. Stevens point I was
kidding with you about this earlier and radio television was
(15:58):
part of that. So did you think it is for
a moment before he got into coaching, about maybe getting
into television or radio, Yeah, I did. I mean not
last year with the Spurs, I started talking to friends
about I knew who was in radio and TV, and
talk to people I know about coaching as well at
the collegiate level as well at the pro level, and
just tried to, you know, have coffee with him and
meet down and have lunch with them and talked about
the pros and cons of both of those professions. And
(16:19):
I just I just had an opportunity to go out
to Sacramento and rejoined Rick Addleman and and Jeff pet
who was part of the Portland uh parts process when
I was there, and just felt it just felt good
to be able to reconnect with those guys. Was Pete
Carrill on that staff, the old Princeton coach that he
was backdoor, Pete, Well, Terry, I grew up in the
polester in Philly, right, so penn and Princeton that was
(16:41):
a big big deal back in the day when the
Ivy League was really good. And of course Pete Carrill
just you know, talking about fundamentally sound and uh know
how to play defense as well. Pete was an amazing,
amazing basketball I Q. Just one of those guys who
mindset and just knowledge of basketball was across all generations
(17:01):
and he could teach anything to anybody, no matter what
the age separation was. He just knew how to get
in a young man's mind and and talk about the
game and bring it to a point where they really
could enjoy it and and enhance it themselves. When you've
got a chance to be a coach yourself, first an assistant,
then as a head coach, did you find yourself taking
a little bit from each of the coaches and each
(17:22):
of the experiences that you had from different guys like
Dr Jack and Pop. I mean you've played obviously for
some very rick Attleman and some very good coaches. Yeah,
I mean I was, like you said, I've been blessed
to be coached by a lot of Hall of Fame
coaches and you try to take something a little bit
from each one and try to blend it in with
your own personal beliefs in your own um, you know,
missions and what you think is important and a lot
(17:43):
of times it's the same thing. I was blessed being
on a lot of good teams, and a lot of
that had to do always having a good culture, always
bringing in the right players, always having players that you
think have good basketball queues and want to compete. I mean,
I think that's a that's the thing that you always
try to look for as you try to evaluate guys
to try to be a part of a franchise, to
try to go on and try to win a championship.
(18:04):
And of course you continued coaching at both the collegiate
level and the professional level, and as you picked up
different things along the way. I know some of it
had to be one of those situations where you look
back and say, you know what, I got that from
Rick Adelman, all right, I got that from a guy
that I played with. Maybe just different things. And that's
the great thing about experience. Seventeen years of players, all
(18:24):
those years as a coach. Well, yeah, man, as you acknowledge, um,
you know, so much of what you learned is about
your experiences and under those particular cultures that you were
able to say you like, you didn't like. And I
was blessed to kind of you know, think about the
way I wanted to play, the way I want to
coach and really learn from a lot of guys that
(18:44):
I was able to play for. Now, at this point
in your career, you're taking a little sabbatical right now.
I'm ran into in Portland, ran into in Portland a
few weeks ago, and you start just kind of chilling
right now. So bring us update on what Terry Porter's
up to these days. Yeah, I'm still relaxing a little bit,
doing some things. Um, I've been in some talks with
some people. I'm probably gonna do something here pretty soon,
but that hasn't been a nounce yet. But I'm not
(19:05):
excited about. You know what the future has, and it's
gonna trying to stay close to basketball. I think that's
the area where I really can again lend my experience
and really be valuable to an organization. And you're still
back out in the Pacific Northwest? Is that right in
the Portland area? That is correct, I'm still living in Portland, Seattle.
Ever gonna get a team, Terry, I hope they do.
I mean, obviously been a part of those great I
FI rivalries. It's like, you know, having San Antonio in Houston, Right,
(19:27):
you can't, you know, deny those rivalries and just the
nature of just being so close that you want to
have um that team represented that city representative because it, uh,
it was such a great rivalry back in the day
and uh had I mean, God, you talked about some
of the great teams have been a part of that
franchise and the championships they've had along the way. So
(19:47):
you hope that the NBA would embrace that community again
and really bring back that that franchise. Terry Porter, thanks
so much for joining us for Sound of Spurs wouldn't
be the same without you. You were. It was great
to have you and best of luck in your future. Okay,
thank you so much. Great to be with you. Okay,
Episode number seven Former Spurs Terry Porter three years of
the Spurs late in his career, and uh, we'll take
(20:08):
a break and we'll have more Sound of Spurs coming
up next week. Surprise guests coming up.
Gay check for a three years. Porter, Erry Porter three
second time the Clark Porter Time. Welcome to Soundlespurs podcast
presented by HIV. This is episode number seven and we're
(00:22):
very pleased to be joined by Terry Porter. Seventeen years
in the NBA. Two time All Star, had some great
years with Portland Trailblazers. Is number thirty's retired by the
Portland Trailblazers. Has been his last three years as a
player with the San Antonio Spurs and a lot of
stuff since then. So we'll get to that. But uh, Terry,
very good to see you. A proud son of the
city of Milwaukee. Was kinsin. I'd feel great to be
(00:43):
with you and uh yeah, yeah, proud to say that
Milwaukee's uh where I m started my basketball career and
played the little little Drip Boos and it's all started there.
Now we hear about these legendary playgrounds in Chicago and
Philly and New York. Uh, Milwaukee's not too far from
ago and some good players have come out of Milwaukee. Yeah,
we've been We've been blessed to have some great players
(01:04):
over the years come from Milwaukee. Fred Brown, um, you
know downtown Freddy Brown when you go old school and
the trails pretty well. Myself and Golden State Warriors have
two guys. Pool and Moody are two guys from Milwaukee
as well, so we we sprinkle a little bit some
guys in there. But no, it's been it's been a
pretty good basketball spot. And of course Marquette University has
(01:25):
had a great basketball tradition right there in Milwaukee. Yes,
the University of Marquette has some obviously great coaches, but
great players who have gone on and wore the Marquette
uniform and gone on to play in the NBA. Morris Lucas,
I mean, I think Doc, Doc Rivers and so uh
you know Jones. So there's been some great, uh great
programs in Wisconsin, and Marquette is obviously been one of
(01:46):
the better universities. I go back to those jerseys one
on the outside, you know, Jerome Whitehead. I think those
were some classic jerseys those the early days, and they
really start, I guess, be the first university kind of
you know, spread out a little bit, went out of
their way to kind of get more fancy and not
the traditional just tuck him in and and um, I
(02:07):
think it was something that the fans really enjoyed. And
when you were a kid, the Milwaukee Bucks came of
age Lou all Sender later known as Kareem ubdul Jabbar,
the Big Old, Oscar Robertson. I'm trying to remember some
of the guys on that team, but uh, those guys
were really really good ball club. Well, yeah, those are
my early days, and my brother and my dad introduced
me to the professional basketball and got in a chance,
(02:27):
like you said, to see the Big Old and Bob
Dandred's and some of those guys. Obviously, uh, Kareema du
Luel center back then. So you know, those are the
early days of the NBA when it was just kind
of starting to find this way. So when did you
find your basketball routes? When did you say, hey, I
want to really make this my passion. Well, I think
as a kid, I grew up playing basketball. I grew
(02:47):
up playing a lot of sports. Um, you know, as
a kid, you grew up up we play our big
sports in our neighborhood was football doing the winner, you know,
in basketball in the summer, and and then obviously played
a little baseball in the summer as well. But um,
earestly we had started getting really sad. I guess high
school years and then college years and when I started
playing and practicing a lot more and really just trying
to you know, first from the high school years, trying
(03:09):
to get a scholarship and trying to get an opportunity
to play at the college level. And then from college,
I had a you know, went to a small school
in the high school Steavens Point, which is about two
hours north of Milwaukee, and I didn't know about my
potential in NBA until later in ninour but um, yeah,
it's been it's been a great journey and very surprising
(03:29):
journey along the way. It's a small school but very
well known for their basketball tradition. And of course Dick Bennett,
a legendary coach, was your college coach. What was that recruitment? Like, well,
it was it was interesting, So you know, Dick Bennett
was that um what you would call We were at
a state. Um, we're trying to get the state and
so we were in the regional bracket and Dick Bennett
(03:50):
actually was there to see another kid on the other team.
And so funny story his his wife is the one
who identified me as game a little elbow. I learned
letterly he gave. She gave him a little elbow and said,
you need to start looking at that number thirty and
start paying attention to the other number thirty. And I
was the other number thirty. So we joke a lot
when we get together, his wife and I about she
(04:12):
giving him the best two players he ever had. And
that's his son Tony Bennett, who's now coaching at the
University of Virginia. He coached him at the years at
Green Bay and then obviously myself. So we always say
she's got the eye for town and in the family.
It was good for you to kind of latch onto
that Bennett family at that point because obviously I was
still very early and he went on too great things
as well. So, um, you have a great career at
(04:33):
Wisconsin Stevens Point. You get to the n ai finals, right,
and must have been a heartbreaking loss. What do you
remember about that game Fort Hayes State Beach in the finals, right? Yeah,
I mean, obviously you you the losses stick with you
longer than the winds do. And UH for us UH
to represent our confidence and represent our state and make
it to the national championship, it was unbelievable experience. And
(04:56):
like you said at this point, that we lost and
it was a very competitive game for the state was
a local university right there in the Kansas City and
we um just didn't make the plays at the end
of the game. But no, it was very competitive and uh,
one of my better stretches of playing amateur basketball. There
must have been a few scouts there are watching you
(05:17):
play because you were the only n ai player to
be invited to the Olympic Trials with all these big
time Division one guys. Did that give you a boost
a confidence to that point, like, hey, I can play
with these big school guys. That gave me a huge
boots and it kind of gave me my first kind
of um, I guess indication that I may have an
opportunity to get played in the NBA. Back then, again,
(05:39):
the Educator your viewers back then they had about nine
they had nine rounds and it does have two now.
So I knew I was gonna get drafted. And so
funny story about the Olympic trial so four it was
going to be in l A. Bobby Knight was the
coach you had. You had mentioned earlier that I was
the first n ai player ever at that time invited
(06:00):
to Olympic trials. There's the head of any island national
level is the gentleman who called the selected committee every
day and tried to say, look, it's time for you
guys to really have an opportunity to invite at least
one NI player. And Um. I was blessed that I
was the one guy that he identified and I was
able to go to Olympic trials UM with ninety other
(06:20):
collegiate players at the time, and I made the first cut,
made the second cut, and then I got the chicken pox,
believe it or not, cut the chicken pox, and had
to go back to Steven's point. And everybody had their
opinion with Bobby Knight. They're either hot or coal on
Bobby Knight. But the way he handled my situation was
um something I always have much respect for him. He
told me, how you deserve it right to try to
(06:42):
compete for the position and represent your USA and Olympic trials.
I went back UM after a week of recovering from
the chicken pox, and I got cut Um. And your
audience may remember two other names that I got cut
with shared the bandwidth one by the name of John Stockton,
other names by Charles Barkley. Three of us wrote a
(07:02):
ban together to the airport under with the last cut
before they made the Olympic trial, and of course just
before the NBA allowed players or the Olympics allowed NBA players.
So it was truly a kind of an all star
college team. Yeah, it was a legitimate collegiate team and
legitimate talent um from the college level. You didn't have
any pros. You can't even have any pros that played
(07:23):
overseas and came back. Um, so it was I think
it was the second to last time, like you said before,
because I think the Dream Team was nineties. So yeah,
it was second to last time before they started allowing
professional basketball players to compete. It's not about your highlight reel.
(07:44):
It's about reaching new heights each and every day. It's
not about if you's sit in the nosebleeds of courtside.
It's about showing up, Hey, good game. It's not about wins.
It's about winning over others by eating them right. It's
about more than money. Frost the official bank of the
(08:05):
San Antonio Spurs. This is Sounded Spurs Podcast. So we
want to get to your time with the Spurs. But
we can't skip your time in Portland. You get drafted,
uh in the first round by the Trailblazers to go
to a whole new place, whole different world for you,
I'm sure, Yet immediately you've become a Trailblazer. Well yeah,
(08:29):
well I was blessed to, you know, get drafted by
the Portland Trailblazers scouting team. Stu Wimmen and Bucky Buckwalter
and the rest of their staff recognized me and all
those amateur competitive events that the NBA goes scouts and
prepare for the draft, and so I got drafted there
head Darnielle Valentine as a veteran there who really helped
me talk to me a lot about being a pro
(08:51):
um Stevie Coulter who another veteran who really talked me
and schooled me a lot about what it was like
to be in the league. And then I was fortunate
and blessed to have some great coaches. I had Jack
Ramsey is my first coach, taught me a lot about
again how to eat as a professional, how to take
care of my body. And then Rick Adaman, who was unbelievable,
Mike Schuler who was a great coach, and so just
(09:13):
fortunate and very blessed to have a lot of great coaches.
P JR. Collissimo was one of my coaches there in
my stint, and uh, you learn Italian food from That's right,
Italian food and not of cuss, you know. But no,
it was it was a great experience and we were
able to h have some great teams and make some
great runs to like you mentioned, two NBA finals and
(09:35):
came up a little shortened nose. But no, it was
unbelievable experience for me those those first two years and
to really be able to play at such a high level.
When people look back at your time in San Antonio
because you came to the Spurs late in your career.
You were thirty six thirty seven years old at the time. Uh,
and you ended up being the point guard. I guess
between Avery Johnson and Tony Parker during that three year
(09:55):
step Well Tony, yeah, I think Avery, and then it
was me, and then Tony was actually here when I
was here, So Tony was got nineteen, I was thirty
six days, So it's TP me and then t P Junior.
So Tony was considered junior, and uh, I just knew
he was gonna be good. Obviously, his speed was the
first thing that you noticed right away when he got
(10:15):
on the basketball court, his ability to go to one
end of the four to the other end, and really
Um had a great passion um for the game. And
obviously his dad, who learned a lot from who played
over in Spain, Um obviously taught him a lot about
the American game and how to compete. Well, you know,
it's interesting because when he first came, uh, you know,
he's a slight little kid, and he looked like a kid.
He didn't had that baby face and everything, but as
(10:38):
you know, he got that toughness and I think, you know,
Pop obviously was tough on him at first, you know,
trying to groom him to be a good NBA player.
But we saw Tony kind of grew up right in
front of us that first year. No question, I think
Pop realized his potential. And Pop was really hard on
point guards. I think anybody who played that position for
coach Um is always something that he demands a lot
of knowledge and and some spunk and some ability to compete.
(11:01):
And Tony had all those skills. You could tell that
early on. I've seen enough of his back and he
went running past me in practice to know that he
was gonna be good. But now I just love the
way he competed and the way he always talked to
me about just the league, my years in the league,
my years in the playoffs, my years and making it
to the finals, what that was like. And he just always, um,
(11:22):
you know, wanted to know more and more about the
position and about the league. And of course you got
to share the court with two other Hall of famers, uh,
Tim Duncan and David David Robinson. Just a few moments
to talk about those guys and your first impressions of them.
Of course you went against them for years as an opponent,
and now your teammates all of a sudden with them. Well,
I mean obviously started with David David. We had some
(11:42):
we battled. We battled in the Western Conference finals when
Larry Brown was the head coach and Pop was assistant coach.
And uh, those Spurs, earlier Spurs teams that had um
they had what Shaun Ellio was on that team as
a starter, and they had Terry Cummins and they had
you know, obviously David and so it was a very
competitive head to head. But what I loved about David
(12:04):
was his ability just to impact the game in so
many ways. I mean, his his speed. You didn't see
that in a big guy. His he was just as
fast as as a guard. And his ability to blocks
out and run the floor and figure out how to
score or something that you just didn't see in a
seven footer back then. He was way ahead of his time. YEA.
And of course the big fundamental Tim Duncan, who probably
(12:26):
would have been Terry I think maybe the number one
pick had he come out after his junior year, and
he decides to come out after his senior year, of
course he's number one pick. Spurs got a nice little
bounce there, right that that was a pretty fortunate bounce
for the Spurs. And they'll tell you right up front,
you know, I was pretty fortunate to be able to
pair Duncan and Robinson together. But Tim seemed like he
was very mature when he got to the league. I
(12:47):
think that's one of the things you noticed right away
when timmy first got in um, you know, he was
very calm, very professional about how he went about his craft,
how he went about preparing every day and practice and
how he worked on his body that needed work and
so and he just got better and better. And you
know anybody who's at that level who's that great. He
always had it in a drive. He Timmy, I would say,
(13:09):
more inniver he did. He wasn't one that he have
all this motion layout in his sleeve, but he had
a fire in his belly that was just as as
strong as anybody else. And he wanted to win. He
loved to compete. My first year with the Spurs, I
was just trying to take it all in. And you
guys such a good um you know, spirit about you.
And one of the guys who was always kind of
involved in the hijinks was Malik Rose. How do you
(13:29):
like having Malik as a teammate? Bleek was great. I
mean he's very emotional, yelling, screaming. You know, as older
guys are more veteran guys, you know, we kind of quiet,
but we need those young guys energy and and and spark.
And you know he would be running around all the time,
patting guys on the back and uh, you know, telling
him pick it up and know it's just a great
amount of energy you needed and practice it more in
(13:51):
the games and on the bench. When you look back
at your three years as a Spur as a player,
what are your fattest memories? Well, just having a chance
to compete. Um, I think the players themselves the whole.
I mean, I think the people will realize the Spurs
with the golden standard back then. I mean their culture,
the way Pop invited guys, in the way he really
(14:12):
embraced guys, the way this community embraced people who put
on the silver and black and those other things that
take along with me obviously the players, Avery Johnson, who
are a very good friend of ours, dear friend of
our family. Um, you know, all the many guys, Steve Kerr,
Danny Ferry, I mean, David five Oh, and like you said,
Mr Fundamental. So those relationships when you get onto a
(14:34):
battle and you're able to compete at such a high level,
those relationships are substantial and long lasting. It's the fiftieth
anniversary of the franchise and if you can take yourself
out of that equation for the three years you played,
when you look at what the Spurs legacy is uh
in fifty years in this league, and of course the
time spent in the a B A because the first
years of this franchise they were in the old A
(14:55):
B A, which is fun and unique. What would you
say the legacy of the Spurs has well champions. I
mean I think, um, you know, even for the earlier days,
they had unbelievable players. Think about the Iceman and A
B A days and more. You think about guys who
were just um game changed, are Guilmore artist Gilmore? I mean,
so you go from A B A days to obviously
(15:16):
the into the merge into the NBA and the standard
they set um and the ability to really become um
a golden standard. A lot of teams tried to copycatch
as the copycat league, as you know, a lot of
trying to complicate their culture and just how Pop and
Peter Holt really allowed to mend the team and and
(15:37):
bringing the type of players that fit this community and
fit that organization. And you certainly were one that fit
right in you. You're certainly a big part of the
community when you were here. You went into coaching after
your playing career. Your last three years as a player
was with the Spurs. Uh And I know you've got
a degree in communications from Wisconsin. Stevens point I was
kidding with you about this earlier and radio television was
(15:58):
part of that. So did you think it is for
a moment before he got into coaching, about maybe getting
into television or radio, Yeah, I did. I mean not
last year with the Spurs, I started talking to friends
about I knew who was in radio and TV, and
talk to people I know about coaching as well at
the collegiate level as well at the pro level, and
just tried to, you know, have coffee with him and
meet down and have lunch with them and talked about
the pros and cons of both of those professions. And
(16:19):
I just I just had an opportunity to go out
to Sacramento and rejoined Rick Addleman and and Jeff pet
who was part of the Portland uh parts process when
I was there, and just felt it just felt good
to be able to reconnect with those guys. Was Pete
Carrill on that staff, the old Princeton coach that he
was backdoor, Pete, Well, Terry, I grew up in the
polester in Philly, right, so penn and Princeton that was
(16:41):
a big big deal back in the day when the
Ivy League was really good. And of course Pete Carrill
just you know, talking about fundamentally sound and uh know
how to play defense as well. Pete was an amazing,
amazing basketball I Q. Just one of those guys who
mindset and just knowledge of basketball was across all generations
(17:01):
and he could teach anything to anybody, no matter what
the age separation was. He just knew how to get
in a young man's mind and and talk about the
game and bring it to a point where they really
could enjoy it and and enhance it themselves. When you've
got a chance to be a coach yourself, first an assistant,
then as a head coach, did you find yourself taking
a little bit from each of the coaches and each
(17:22):
of the experiences that you had from different guys like
Dr Jack and Pop. I mean you've played obviously for
some very rick Attleman and some very good coaches. Yeah,
I mean I was, like you said, I've been blessed
to be coached by a lot of Hall of Fame
coaches and you try to take something a little bit
from each one and try to blend it in with
your own personal beliefs in your own um, you know,
missions and what you think is important and a lot
(17:43):
of times it's the same thing. I was blessed being
on a lot of good teams, and a lot of
that had to do always having a good culture, always
bringing in the right players, always having players that you
think have good basketball queues and want to compete. I mean,
I think that's a that's the thing that you always
try to look for as you try to evaluate guys
to try to be a part of a franchise, to
try to go on and try to win a championship.
(18:04):
And of course you continued coaching at both the collegiate
level and the professional level, and as you picked up
different things along the way. I know some of it
had to be one of those situations where you look
back and say, you know what, I got that from
Rick Adelman, all right, I got that from a guy
that I played with. Maybe just different things. And that's
the great thing about experience. Seventeen years of players, all
(18:24):
those years as a coach. Well, yeah, man, as you acknowledge, um,
you know, so much of what you learned is about
your experiences and under those particular cultures that you were
able to say you like, you didn't like. And I
was blessed to kind of you know, think about the
way I wanted to play, the way I want to
coach and really learn from a lot of guys that
(18:44):
I was able to play for. Now, at this point
in your career, you're taking a little sabbatical right now.
I'm ran into in Portland, ran into in Portland a
few weeks ago, and you start just kind of chilling
right now. So bring us update on what Terry Porter's
up to these days. Yeah, I'm still relaxing a little bit,
doing some things. Um, I've been in some talks with
some people. I'm probably gonna do something here pretty soon,
but that hasn't been a nounce yet. But I'm not
(19:05):
excited about. You know what the future has, and it's
gonna trying to stay close to basketball. I think that's
the area where I really can again lend my experience
and really be valuable to an organization. And you're still
back out in the Pacific Northwest? Is that right in
the Portland area? That is correct, I'm still living in Portland, Seattle.
Ever gonna get a team, Terry, I hope they do.
I mean, obviously been a part of those great I
FI rivalries. It's like, you know, having San Antonio in Houston, Right,
(19:27):
you can't, you know, deny those rivalries and just the
nature of just being so close that you want to
have um that team represented that city representative because it, uh,
it was such a great rivalry back in the day
and uh had I mean, God, you talked about some
of the great teams have been a part of that
franchise and the championships they've had along the way. So
(19:47):
you hope that the NBA would embrace that community again
and really bring back that that franchise. Terry Porter, thanks
so much for joining us for Sound of Spurs wouldn't
be the same without you. You were. It was great
to have you and best of luck in your future. Okay,
thank you so much. Great to be with you. Okay,
Episode number seven Former Spurs Terry Porter three years of
the Spurs late in his career, and uh, we'll take
(20:08):
a break and we'll have more Sound of Spurs coming
up next week. Surprise guests coming up.
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